Italian Doctor Claims to Have Found the Secret to Head Transplants

An Italian scientist has said that head transplants may be possible, after claiming to have had a "major breakthrough".

The Local reports that Sergio Canavero, a neuroscientist, said it may be possible to merge bone marrow when fusing one person's head with another's spine. Writing for the journal Frontier Neurology, he said that operation could be made possible by using membrane-fusing substances called fusogens, injected between the two stumps.

Canavero received a barrage of criticism last year after publishing his initial research in which he said that head transplants could be made possible by severing the heads of both patients before cooling and cleaning out the "recipient" head and then attaching it to the new body with polymer glue.

His findings have been dismissed by Dr Calum MacKellar of the Scottish Council of Human Bioethics, however. MacKellar told the Local, “Changing the bone marrow has been done for years, especially with cancer patients.

"But the biggest problem with this kind of transplant would be the nerves, and that’s still not possible."

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